Storms hit East Texas hard following lengthy drought

EAST TEXAS — Following a lengthy drought, East Texans have begun experiencing a sharp turnaround in the weather, with rain, high winds, and flooding striking the area. Smith County Fire Marshal Jay Brooks said a tornado briefly touched down on the Winona High School football field at 10:36 a.m. Monday, and minor damage was reported. The Winona ISD Police Chief saw the tornado briefly touch down and the school was briefly placed on lockdown but is back up at its regular schedule, Brooks said at 10:50 a.m. He had reports of four houses being damaged, as well as power lines and minor damage to the high school. The National Weather Service –Shreveport said it had moved out of the area.

Smith County Precinct 4 Constable Josh Joplin said the tornado took down the fence perimeter of the city water tower, completely destroyed a modular building, and threw football equipment from the football field into a nearby pasture. A portable building was lying in the middle of Johnson Road. He said the tornado appeared to have spun up on Johnson Road, traveled across the Winona High School field, over to Hussey Circle and moved north toward Big Sandy. He said there appeared to be quite a bit of damage in the Hussey Circle neighborhood. “This probably is the only one I’ve seen that’s done this amount of damage in a short amount of time,” Constable Joplin said. Our news partner KETK reports numerous power outages, and drivers are urged to be extra careful, with flooding making some road conditions hazardous. Several smaller school districts in the area cut activities short Monday or made other schedule adjustments due to the weather. We’ll continue to update this story as new information comes in.